Including tonight's presidential debate, Wilson has attended 238 Romney-related events in that time span. On the other hand, he has slept just nine nights in his own bed in Buckingham, Va.

"There's something about your own bed that still feels good," Wilson said.

Wilson, a 70-year-old former life insurance salesman with the ever-lit pipe, has the vigor of a college groupie. He has decorated his truck with six American flags and plenty of Romney-Ryan art. He's currently on his second Chevy Silverado of the 2012 campaign — his current, 2003 model was gifted to him by the Romney campaign after his first was destroyed in an unexpected fire in June.

So — why?

"There are 10 reasons. You don't want to hear all 10, but it's pretty simple — 10 grandchildren," Wilson said. "This is now or never for this country. We're at the edge of a cliff."

Wilson, a veteran, hails from the swing-state Iowa, where he chose to begin his journey at the tail end of last summer and where he says "everyone that can read and write is a Republican."

Wilson met Romney at the Iowa State Fair, the very first event he attended. He said he offered him the "cliche" advice of, "Relax and be yourself."

"That's what I tell him before every damned event," he said.

Brett LoGiurato/Business Insider
Wilson felt Romney accomplished that during the turning point of his primary campaign — when he came out of a loss to Newt Gingrich in the South Carolina primary and began a roll, starting with a victory in the Florida primary, to capture the Republican nomination.

"It was the first time he became comfortable in his own skin," Wilson said of that period. "From that low point, everything has been upward and onward since."

Wilson has driven out to California and back on the Romney trail. He says he'll cherish the highs and lows forever. He has been pulled over, for example, more than a dozen times by police, who end up requesting bumper stickers or other merchandise.

Then there are the lows — like in June, when he never made it to a friend's funeral in Washington, D.C. Between events in Pennsylvania, his 1998 Silverado became engulfed in flames for reasons still unknown.

"That was pretty dramatic," he said, nonchalant. "I'm just upset I didn't make the funeral."

When asked about his end-game — why he feels the need to go to the extreme of following Romney around on the trail — he repeats the mantra of this being a critical time right now and for his 10 grandchildren's futures.

But there is also a personal dream.

"My last event will be doing security as a volunteer for an inaugural ball in Washington, D.C., in January," Wilson said. "Then I'm going to get in my truck, go home and catch up on farm work."